Roughriders should play Follow The LeaderBack to video

• Don’t bother with the “if you aren’t cheating, you aren’t trying” nonsense. The Calgary Stampeders are a perennial powerhouse and how often does the league have to discipline them?

• Roughriders president-CEO Craig Reynolds exudes class and embraces accountability. It is time for his applaudable mindset to permeate throughout the organization. If Jones is going to play games, how about Follow The Leader?

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• The latest Raise-a-Reader sports memorabilia sale, which was held Sunday, generated $6,886.90. Since the event’s inception in 2004, a total of $60,710.04 has been raised for the Leader-Post/Postmedia literacy program. Profuse and sincere thanks to everyone who was kind enough to donate merchandise or their valuable time.

• The Regina Pats overcame an early 3-0 deficit Sunday and registered a 7-4 victory over the host Lethbridge Hurricanes — a conquest that ended the WHL’s Eastern Conference final in six games. All-star readers P.J. Wiest and Dale McKellar noted that the same storyline unfolded on May 12, 1974, when the Pats trailed 3-0 early in the game before rallying for a 7-4 victory over the Quebec Remparts in the Memorial Cup final.

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• The referee in that game: 21-year-old Kerry Fraser.

• The Pats are preparing to meet the Seattle Thunderbirds in the WHL’s championship series, with the winner — Regina in six, by the way — to receive the well-named Ed Chynoweth Cup. On Friday, when Seattle visits the Brandt Centre, the Pats will begin their eighth playoff series in three years under head coach and general manager John Paddock. The Pats’ previous eight playoff series were spread over 12 years.

• Congratulations in advance to Paddock, who has to be a mortal lock to be named the WHL’s executive of the year and coach of the year when the league presents its awards on Wednesday. And it would be a shock if the Pats’ Sam Steel was not named the league’s player-of-the-year after a 50-goal, 131-point season.

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• How long has it been since the Pats were in a league final? When the Pats last made such an appearance, back in 1984, their home arena was known as the Agridome, the opposition was the Bill LaForge-coached Kamloops Junior Oilers (now Blazers) and Seattle’s WHL franchise was nicknamed the Breakers.

• Pats defenceman Sergey Zborovskiy was plus-5 in Sunday’s victory over Lethbridge. He is plus-23 in the 2017 playoffs after boasting a league-best plus-72 during the regular season.

• Zborovsky helped the Pats prevent Hurricanes sniper Tyler Wong from scoring a single goal during the six-game series. Wong had two assists, both in the same game, during the Eastern Conference final. Before running into the Pats, Wong — a 51-goal man during the regular season — had 11 goals in 14 playoff contests this year.

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• Even when Wong does not score, he is an exceptional player to watch and a threat every time he is on the ice. Off the ice, he is pleasant, thoughtful and articulate. Consider the fact that he has been recognized as the Eastern Conference’s humanitarian of the year for the third consecutive season.

• Clarification: In our sister publication (QC) on April 21, a column appeared in which I reflected on 30 years of continuous employment at my favourite newspaper. Evidently, experience did not enable me to avoid some ambiguous wording. So, in response to a question that I am fielding quite frequently of late, I am NOT retiring. (Sorry to disappoint anyone.)

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